Collar



Aug; 7, 1923.

J. M. VAN HEUSEN COLLAR Filed Aug. 4 1919 Patented Aug. 7, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MANNING VAN HEUSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO VAN HEUSEN PRODUCTS, INC., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Application filed August 4, 1919.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN MANNING VAN HEUSEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at No. 167 Tremont Street, Boston, in the county of Sufiolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will-enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in collars, cuffs and like articles, adapted to be folded along a wearing edge, and made of multiply interwoven fabric; and more particularly to the manufacture of collars such as are described and claimed, for example in the Bowen U. S. Patent No. 1,254,306 and in my prior Patent No. 1,309,381. That is, the present invention relates more particularly to soft folding or turned down collars made up of a neck band portion and a folding or turn down portion, which are adapted to be worn without starching, and which will, nevertheless, have a sufiicient degree of stiffness to make the collars self-supporting. The collars of multiply interwoven fabric are provided with a weakened edge fold portion, or an edge fold portion of increased flexibility, along. which the relatively stiff fabric will naturally tend to fold.

The present invention further relates to certain improvements in collar construction, and more particularly in the edge binding of such collars, same being an improvement upon the invention described and claimed in my prior Patent No. 1,254,294. That is, the improvements: of the present invention include the provision of a collar of multiply interwoven fabric with a narrow portion of its edge turned and overlaid with a binding tape in the manner described and claimed in said prior patent.

Where the multiply interwoven fabric is of a sufficient degree of stiffness to avoid the objectionable flimsy appearance of the ordinary soft collar, it does not readily fold at the desired point unless the fabric is in some way modified 'to'promote the folding operation. In the Bowen 7 Patent No. 1,254,306, above referred to, the collar is provided with 1 a weakened fold portion, along which the collar naturally folds, and

COLLAR.

Serial No. 315,109.

this weakened fold portion or fold portion linear character, so that the collar, when folded, will have a natural curvilinear set. In the specific construction illustratednin this prior patent, the portion of increased v flexibility forming the fold portion is provided by a modification of the weaving operation. The present invention relates to the provision of a fold portion of increased flexibility without modification of the weav-- ing operation, although the resulting collar is of the same general character described and claimed in said prior patent. 4

According to the present invention, the

collar fabric may be woven in the usual way, of multiply interwoven fabric, that is, the fabric may be woven without modification of the weave to provide a fold portion of increased flexibility. After the weaving of the fabric, and either before or afterthe cutting of the collar blank therefrom, the

fabric is subjected to a skiving or similar operation along the line which is to be the fold line of the collar. By means of this skiving or similar operation, a small amount of the fabric is cut away, but the cutting operation is not sufficiently deep to injure the contour or destroy the continuity of the outer layer of the multiply fabric, so that the collar when folded along the fold line of increased flexibility thus provided, will, nevertheless, have a finished and pleasing appearance.

The multiply interwoven fabric, may be, for example, woven with three plies, or woven with two plies, and with intermediate filling. So, also, the fabric may be woven as a straight piece of fabric, or it may be woven with a curvilinear contour, as described, for example, in the Morgan U. S, Letters Patent No. 1,254,339 and 1,254,340, but without the modification of the weave to provide a fold portion of increased flexibility described in said Morgan patent. The fabric thus woven may be provided with a 'skiving' or like operation along a straight line which is to form the fold line, but preferably and advantageously is along a curved line, thereby providing a fold portion of increased flexibility which is curvilinear in character, and which will assist in forming the collar and in giving to it the desired curvilinear set. That is, in some cases the of increased flexibility is made of a curvi-' fabric may be woven as a straight fabric, and with a straight skived portion to form the fold line, or it may be a straight fabric with a curved skived portion to give a curvilinear set to the collar, or it may be a fabric woven with a curvilinear set of the same general contour as the curvilinear fold line and the curvilinear fold line may then be skived therein so that both the weave of the fabric and the skived curvilinear fold line are curvilinear in character and conform generally to each other in curvature.

In providing the collar of the present invention with an edge binding of the character describel and claimed in my said prior Patent No. 1,254,294, I skive or otherwise cut a line or groove around the edge of the collar, such that the edge when folded, will fold along the line thus cut. As a result of the skiving or similar operation, a small amount of the fabric is cut away, for example, the skiving may cut through the outer layer of fabric without injuring the inner layer, and the multiply fabric is then folded, with the skived portion on the inside, so that this ortion forms a portion of in creased flexibility and so that the folding operation is thereby facilitated. After the line or groove is thus formed in the collar blank by the skiving or similar operation, the collar may then be bound by inturning the edge of the collar and applying a tape to the in-turned edge. The edge will still be of increased thickness, due to the two layers of the multiply fabric, and this will be desirable to give to the collar an added degree of stiffness and rigidity, but the folding of this narrow edge and the sewing machine operation by means of which it is infolded and the binding tape applied,'will be materially facilitated by the preliminary skiving or similar operation. In this case, as in the case of the skiving of the weakened fold portion of the collar, the skiving or similar operation should not cut into the collar a sufficient depth to injure the layer of fabric which forms the outside of the collar in use, so that this outside layer will remain continuous and present a pleasing and finished appearance.

The invention will be further described in connection with the embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

portion and with a similar portion at the edge of the fabric, made by a skivin-g or similar operation.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the. line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken through the collar as a Whole, in its completed state.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to that of Fig. 4

of a modified construction, and

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to that of Fig. 6 of the same modified construction as shown in Fig. 7.

The collar illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive is made up of a neckband portion 1 and a folding or turned down portion '2, one of the end tabs of the collar being indicated at 3. The collar blankfrom which this collar is cut may itself be out or stamped from a piece of straight woven fabric, as indicated in Fig. 2, and this collar blank, either before or after it is stamped from the fabric, may be provided with a skived or otherwise cut away portion 4, to provide a portion of thecollar, whichwill be of increased flexibility, due to the fact that a portion of the multiply fabric has been cut away along this line. It will be evident that the cut away portion may be of varying depth and varying width, dependent upon the size and Weight of the fabric. It is possible, by a skiving operation, to cut an exceedingly narrow and thin groove or skive in the fabric, or a wider or deeper skive or groove, depending upon the flexibility desired at the fold portion.

The collar blank, after it is out from the fabric is also skived or otherwise treated around its edge, to produce a line or groove 5. v It is possible bya suitable skiving operation, to cut away just a little of the fabric, of a regulated depth andwidth, so that the collar fabric will'more readily fold at this cut away portion, but so that the pleasing appearance of the collar in its com leted state will not be thereby prejudiced. t will be evident that this skiving should be at a regulated distance from the edge of the collar blank, and that it will determine the contour of the completed collar, inasmuch as the fabric will be folded along the skived line. After the skiving operation, the collar can then besubjected to a sewing machine operation, for in-turning the edge along the skived line, and applying atape along the in-turned edge, as described and claimed in my said prior Patent No. 1,254,294. The completed edge is indicated in Fig. 6, in section.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the three layers of a three-pl interwoven fabric are indicated respective y at 6, 7 and 8. In the weaving of such fa ric, it will'be under stood that the various plies of the fabric are interwoven with each other, so that even though one of the fabrics may be cut away .along a line, or for a portion of its width,

the remainder of the plies thus cut will, nevertheless, remain attached to the other plies as a unitary portion of the multiply fabric. In Fig. 4 it will be noted that the skived portion 4, extends through only a single layer of the multiply fabric, and that the two outer layers are continuous. The cutting away of the inner layer of fabric will, nevertheless, provide a weakened fold portion of increased flexibility, along which the collar will naturally fold. Inasmuch as this portion is between the neckband and the turned down portion of the collar when folded and worn, it will not be subjected to any wear, except during the laundering operation. It may not, therefore, be necessary to provide any protection for the fabric which has thus been skived and its continuity thereby broken. However, should it be desirable to protect the portion of the collar subjected to the skiving or similar operation, this may be done by applying a binding tape thereto, as illustrated, for example, in Fig. 7, where the two-ply fabric has one of its plies cut away at 4 and has a tape 13 applied thereto, and attached to the multiply fabric at each side of the cutaway portion. The neckband portion of the collar 1 may have the stitches securing the band thereto extend all the way through the collar, inasmuchv as the stitches on the inside of the neckband will not be objectionable in appearance. In order, however, to prevent the stitches at the top of the turned down portion from extending through the collar, the band 13 is secured thereto by a row of blind stitches 14:, which extend only part way through the multiply fabric. The edge of the collar and the skived cut away portion 5 thereof, are illustrated, by way of example, in Fig. 5, the skiving operation having cut away one of the layers of fabric, so that the other two layers will more readily fold at the point thus cut. The collar Wlll, nevertheless, when it has its edge folded, present a pleasing appearance, and the cut away portion will be inside the fold, where it will be protected from wear and from sight. It will be evident that the different plies of the multiply fabric may be made of different materials and of different weaves. The outer ply may thus be of silk or of a finer and more pleasing appearance than the inner plies, which are not exposed to view except where the end tabs are exposed.

The collar of the present invention'is intended as a soft collar to be worn without starching; but it will be evident that it is available foruse as a starched collar where such a collar is desired; and, when so used, the inherent stiifness of the collar itself will supplement the stiffening effect of the starch, so that less starch will be required to give to the collar the desired stiffness.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a collar of the same general character described and claimed in the prior patent above referred to; but provides a collar having these advantages which may be made without the modification of the weaving operation, and by taking a fabric with a straight weave and skiving it at the desired places where a fold portion of increased flexibility is desired; that is, at the fold portion of the collar, and at the edge of the collar where the edge is to be in-turned for binding. It will also be evident that the weakened fold portion, made by skiving or similar operation, may be provided in the collar without the weakened edge fold portion, and vice versa. That is, the providing of a fold portion of increased flexibility by a skiving or similar operation is of general application in the manufacture of multiply interwoven fabric collars; while the provision of an edge binding having a fold line of increased flexibility, produced by a skiving or like operation is also of general application, irrespective of whether the collar is provided with a weakened fold portion or a fold portion of increased flexibility by a skiving or like operation; and the claims appended hereto are intended to have a correspondingly broad signification.

I claim:

1. An article of wearing apparel of multiply fabric, having a portion of the inner face removed on a curvilinear line near the central portion of the said article to form a line of increased flexibility on which it folds, and leaving the outer face intact.

2. An article of wearing apparel of multirply fabric, having a portion of the inner face removed on a curvilinear line near the central portion of the said article to form a line of increased flexibility on which it folds, and leaving the outer face intact, and a facing of fabric material secured to the inner face of the collar over the said reature. SEN. 

